Lilium
by spicytennistime
Summary: Magic AU. Ryouma Echizen travels to Japan after Tezuka Kunimitsu recommended he learn the ways of the coven underneath the teachings of Fuji Shusuke. Slice of life adventures ensue. Warning boyxboy yaoi lemon don't like don't read.
1. Prologue

Tezuka was a witch hunter. The fifth in a long line, and one of the few remaining in the country. It was awkward, then, that his best friend was a witch, but it hadn't happened accidentally. Fuji had sought him out specifically, when they were both young and at one of the meetings his grandfather would hold with the witch clans in their area. Fuji had been the centre of attention at the meeting. Both witches and witch hunters alike were interested in him, both for the same reason – his potential for magic was incredible. Almost frightening, if you were twitchy about that kind of thing.

Fuji had grabbed him and pulled him away when the adults started talking. Tezuka hadn't thought anything of it – they were the only people their age at the meeting, and the long discussions were boring for kids to listen to. If this had happened a few years later, when he was less naïve of his and Fuji's different positions, he might have refused to go.

Fuji wanted to show him something. That was why he'd dragged him out into the garden of his grandfather's house, behind a wall where nobody would see them. He took a knife out of his pocket, and for a split-second Tezuka realized the danger he'd put himself in.

Fuji turned it on himself, though. He drew the blade along the middle of his palm, deliberately and deep enough to make Tezuka flinch, then turned his palm over and let his blood fall the ground. The grass sizzled underneath where it landed, and for a moment, a plume of smoke rose in the shape of a vague figure.

Fuji's eyes, which were a vivid blue and wide while he did it, creased closed into the same smile he'd wore indoors. He said, pleasantly, "What do you think?"

"That's illegal," Tezuka said, bluntly. "Blood magic is forbidden."

"What are they going to do?" Fuji teased, taking a step towards him. Without thinking, Tezuka took a step back. "Burn me?"

"I'll tell," Tezuka said, feeling his temper rising. He couldn't do anything, but he was hot headed, and he hated being challenged.

"No you won't." Fuji smiled, and leant forward to grab a hold of his wrist before he could move away from him again. Tezuka could feel slick, hot blood against his skin. "Because we're going to be friends."


	2. Chapter 1

Fuji's shop was small, but it was in a nice part of town and he liked it. His parents had bought him a one year lease for the building as a graduation present (partly to get him back to Japan, he thought - he'd studied in America, and they hated having him so far away), and he'd made enough money in that first year to keep it open. Mostly from taking photos at weddings and other events rather than sales, though. The shop was usually quiet.

Not this morning, though. Fuji had been flicking through a magazine at the counter when the door slammed open, disturbing the peace. The displays near the door rattled, but didn't tip over. Whoever this boy was, he wasn't here to buy lenses or ask about camera repair. He had a cat basket in one hand, and a sports bag slung over his shoulder that was bulging, like he'd tried to stuff everything he owned into it.

Fuji knew why he was there. The other was taller than him and broad shouldered, but his features still looked boyish and his limbs were a little gangly, like he was still growing into them. He was probably running out of time for an apprenticeship to be appropriate, but was still young enough to find one. And if by the way this boy was looking at him was any indication, one had just come through his doorway.

"Are you Fuji Shusuke?" The boy said. His voice was deeper than Fuji had expected, possibly deeper than his own. A meowing sound - if you could call it that - came from within the cat basket in his hand.

Fuji nodded, eyebrows raised. He stood from the stool he had sat himself on as he had begun to shift through a customer's photos that he had just developed, neatly placing them into the thick manila envelopes he used for delivery. The boy didn't break eye contact with him as he rounded the counter, coming to stand in front of him. "I am. Can I ask who you are?"

The boy thrust a hand out, rudely and curtly getting to the point: "I'm Ryouma Echizen. I'd like for you to hire me to work here, and become my master in witchcraft."

Laughter came to him unwillingly, bubbling out brightly. The boy - Ryouma - narrowed his eyes, his outstretched hand unmoving, still waiting to be reciprocated. Fuji took his hand finally, grasping the boy's gangly fingers with his own delicate ones, and smiled at him. "I guess I could do that, Ryouma Echizen. Would you like to sit down and tell me how you found me in the first place, first?"

He led Ryouma over to the counter. Fuji's shop was relatively small and quaint, so the "counter" was more of a neat little table Tezuka had found at a garage sale, but it was the perfect height for the stools he already had. There were photos - his own photography - hung up on wires hanging from the ceiling, and they rippled slightly in the breeze that was coming from the door that had been left open by Ryouma. Fuji didn't mind, as the fresh air was likely good for the cacti he had dotted around for decor.

He took his place on the stool he had been on before, and Ryouma sat on the one on the opposite side of the table, carefully setting the cat carrier down.

"You have a cat?" Fuji asked, making pleasant conversation.

Ryouma gave him a long, questioning look. "Yes."

"So do I." Fuji grinned, leaning into his hand as he set his elbow onto the counter. "Maybe they'll get along!"

The boy nodded a little shyly, eyes panning to the cat carrier.

"So, Ryouma Echizen." Fuji tapped a finger against the wood grain of the table absently as he gazed at the younger man. "Who told you about me?"

"Tezuka," Ryouma said, without hesitation or hitch. Fuji found it surprising, but not too surprising. He and Tezuka were long distance friends, communicating largely through short phone calls and brief letters. It wasn't either of their decisions, but Tezuka's work brought him out of country, and distance made the heart grow fonder, doesn't it?

"So you're from the United States?" Fuji asked. It was the country Tezuka had been stationed in for the last year and a half, the longest he'd been in a country for an extended amount of time. Fuji knew Tezuka, and Fuji knew that it would take longer than his usual month-long trips to make a connection with someone so strong as to recommend them to come visit Fuji. Fuji, who was off limits from most of Tezuka's conversation topics.

"Yes," Ryouma said. For a foreigner, Ryouma had excellent Japanese, though Fuji could detect a hint of an accent in speech now that he knew. "He mentioned you in one of our conversations at a party. When he said you were a witch…well."

Fuji hummed knowingly. "Not many people outside of the neighborhood know that, actually. Consider yourself special." Ryouma gave Fuji a surprisingly offended look, as if he didn't like being called special. "It's rare for Tezuka to mesh so well with someone who is interested in witchcraft. You know what he does, don't you?"  
"Of course I do." The certainty in Ryouma's voice did not fall deaf on Fuji's ears. Ryouma's eyebrows raised slightly as he spoke of Tezuka. "I wouldn't have even asked him about it if I didn't think he knew anything about it. He knew I was in some trouble, and he said you'd give me a job. When I asked if you were the witch friend he kept mentioning, he told me. And I want you to teach me."

The "witch friend". The name stuck out to Fuji, and his smile tightened. "What makes you think my type of witchcraft will mesh well with you? What if you can't handle it?"

"Then I'll find someone else to teach me, but keep working here."

Fuji barked out a laugh, but Ryouma's slight smug smirk did not budge. Fuji had to admit - he admired this kid's confidence. "Fine. You can work here. I'll try to teach you what I know, but it remains to be seen if you'll be any good at it." Fuji made a mental note to take it slow with him. If he didn't, he'd plunge Ryouma immediately into a vat of blood. "Also, where are you staying?"

"Don't know yet." Ryouma looked a little sheepish at this confession. The cat in his carrier meowed pitifully. "I was hoping to stay with you."  
Fuji shook his head immediately. Fuji took residence in the apartment loft above his shop - and he appreciated the time alone. Plus, he had to give a certain Tezuka Kunimitsu a phone call that night. Ryouma looked defeatedly away, eyebrows furrowed. They sat there in the tense silence for a few moments before it occurred to Fuji - he did have a place for Ryouma to stay.

"I know just the place," Fuji said. Ryouma looked at him suspiciously, but nodded - any place was better than no place, right?

To say Momoshiro Takeshi was annoyed would be an understatement. He stood at the door of his small apartment with Fuji, watching as Ryouma unleashed his cat (or, in Fuji's opinion, a miniature monster) into the apartment. It immediately jumped onto the card table Momo had set up, knocking off a cup that luckily landed in a pile of clothes.

"You should have tidied up a little bit," Fuji said lightly.

Momo gave him an appalled expression. "You called me thirty minutes ago and told me you had a roommate for me! I didn't have time! I was at work!" Momo waved his hands around, gesturing towards Ryouma, then the various messes around the room. "I couldn't have possibly-"

The cat knocked over another glass, this time missing a soft landing. It landed with the sharp smash of ceramic shattering, and Ryouma made a whining noise that felt uncharacteristic of what Fuji knew about him (which, admittedly, was not much). "Karupin," he whined, kneeling at the shards as the cat rushed away to hide. "Look what you did!"

"My mug!" Momo cried, rushing to Ryouma's side. "My perfectly good mug! Your cat broke it!"

"Karupin didn't mean to!"

"I don't care if it meant to! It's just a dumbass cat!"

"Don't call my cat a dumbass!"

"Looks like you two will get along just fine," Fuji said, interrupting them just as they grabbed each other's collars. Momo looked over at Fuji and scowled, hand slipping from Ryouma's collar to wrap an arm around his neck, bringing him in for a ferocious noogie. Ryouma yelled out, and Fuji laughed.

Later on the phone, Fuji was NOT laughing.

"Tezuka," he said in a dangerous tone after Tezuka picked up his line, before he could even ask who was calling. "Why?"

"Good evening, Fuji." Tezuka's low voice came through the speaker. There was a hint of amusement behind his otherwise blank voice, and it pissed Fuji off.

"Ryouma Echizen?" He pressed.

"He's a smart kid," Tezuka said. There was the sound of wind on the other line, and Fuji wondered if he had caught Tezuka on his way home from a job. "I met him half a year ago."

"You never mentioned him."

There was a pause. "I suppose I didn't."

Fuji rubbed at his eyes. He was sitting in his apartment, looking out of the window to the street below. The only light on in his apartment was in the kitchen behind him, casting an orange glow over everything. It felt very...mystical. Fitting for a witch. "I never asked you to find me an apprentice, did I?"

"No, but I knew you wanted one." Fuji frowned. The wind noise disappeared, and instead the distance sound of voices replaced it. He had entered a building. "Because even after all these years, you still talk about witchcraft to me. Even with my job. And I can tell that you get frustrated not having anyone to teach." There was a brief moment of silence other than the muffled background noise on Tezuka's end. "Is that a thing with witches?"

"They're a replacement for kids," Fuji said. Tezuka huffed in response. "So, Ryouma Echizen. What's his story, Tezuka? Where did you find a boy and his cat that was so willing to join the world of witches?"

Tezuka hummed mindlessly for a moment before speaking again, the rush of wind returning. Fuji closed his eyes and listened to the noise on the other end of the phone. The town he lived in was so quiet, it was kind of nice to hear the sounds of a bustling city. "Well, we met through work."

"He's a witch hunter too?"

"No, he was just...present." The topic was awkward, and Tezuka quickly moved on. "We got to know each other rather well. He's got a passion for sports, but he probably didn't tell you that. He's kind of quiet."

"Like you?"

"Hm." Fuji smiled. "His father is a warlock. Pretty powerful, too. Ever heard of Nanjiroh Echizen?"

Fuji reclined in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. The streetlights outside cast dotted shadows on the proliferated surface. "I think so. He's not active anymore."

"He wants to be more powerful than him. So I told him to go to you for guidance."

"How flattering," Fuji said, and Tezuka mumbled something in response. Fuji didn't need to see Tezuka to know he was embarrassed. "I'll try my best to teach him all I know."

"Is he staying with you?"

Snickering, Fuji leaned forward again, resting his elbows on his knees. "Of course not. I sent him to Momo's."

There was such a long silence Fuji almost thought Tezuka had hung up on him. "Oh, Fuji."

"He needed a roommate, who better than the boy you've so lovingly sent me?"

"I expect to see him in one piece when I come back."

A car drove by on the street below, the headlights stretching and compressing all the shadows in Fuji's room. "Yeah, yeah." Fuji stood, walking to his bedroom, littered with books and jars, a small altar on a desk. He paused at it, looking at his setup gently. "Goodnight, Tezuka."

"Goodnight."


	3. Chapter 2

Ryouma HATED living with Momoshiro.

Fuji was being obstinate in teaching him witchcraft, so most days he begrudgingly returned to the small, drafty apartment feeling unfulfilled and like he had wasted the day. He asked Fuji everyday - it had been a week by this point - to teach him something, ANYTHING, but Fuji just smiled at him and gave him a package to deliver somewhere in town. Momoshiro, if anything else, was kind enough to lend Ryouma his bicycle to ride around for deliveries, but that was all he was good for.

Momoshiro (he was determined to get Ryouma to call him "Momo-chan", but no way in hell was that going to happen) was vocal about his dislike for Ryouma, calling him a brat and obnoxious all the time. He was only two years older than Ryouma, but he acted as if he was old as his father. He worked the night shift at a convenience store nearby, so luckily for Ryouma, they rarely saw each other when both were awake, but the times they did, it was terrible.

Everything that Momoshiro did annoyed Ryouma to some extent. Some days he would wake up while he was getting ready to go to Fuji's shop and leer around him, complaining that he was in the way. When he vented his frustration about this to Fuji, Fuji unhelpfully smiled at him and told him they'd get along eventually.

What was worse is that they essentially shared a bed. When he left America for Japan, Ryouma had definitely not expected to be roughing it in a tiny apartment with close sleeping quarters. Tezuka had spoken so highly of Fuji, Ryouma had assumed Fuji would at least have a nice place for him to sleep.

"Why can't I move in here?" Ryouma asked one morning as Fuji sealed one of his patented envelopes. The address was already neatly printed on it in Fuji's small handwriting. Everything Fuji did was tidy and careful, unlike everything Momoshiro did. Ryouma had known him for less than a month and he knew this. Fuji looked up at him through his eyelashes and Ryouma huffed in frustration. "You live all alone here! I don't see why I can't stay here."

"I have my cat," Fuji said. It was...ominous, the way he said that.

"Cat's don't bother me," Ryouma shot back.

Fuji pushed the envelope across the table towards him, smiling kindly. "Can you go deliver this for me, please?"

"When are you going to teach me magic?" Ryouma asked, but he picked up the envelope anyway, tucking it under his arm. "Or am I going to be doing your errands the whole time?"

The memory of Fuji's unaffected smile burned into the back of Ryouma's eyelids as he lay in bed at night, his eyebrows scrunched up and his hand resting against his forehead. Karupin was curled up next to him, snoring in his sleep. It was one of the unfortunate times he and Momoshiro were awake at the same time, and Momoshiro was banging around in the main room of the apartment, and the smell of something cooking on the stove was making Ryouma's stomach rumble.

The second only good thing about Momoshiro was that he could cook. Only certain things, but that was more than Ryouma knew.

He rolled onto his side when Momoshiro reentered the bedroom, rummaging around in the mounds of clothes encircling the bed.

"Hey, Echizen."

Ryouma didn't answer.

"Hey, _brat_." He shoved at Ryouma's legs, and Ryouma sprang up, glaring at him. "Have you seen my shirt?"

"No, I haven't seen your shirt!" Ryouma sputtered. "I don't keep track of your things."

"We're roommates!" Momoshiro whined. Ryouma rolled his eyes and laid back down as Momoshiro continued to dig through his things. "We're roommates, but you don't even care about me. What was Fuji thinking?" It was obvious Momoshiro was venting out loud, but Ryouma still made a noise of agreement. Karupin rolled over in his sleep, stretching his legs over Ryouma's chest. "Why are you even _here_?" Momoshiro continued, his voice shaking slightly. "Fuji didn't even tell me what you're doing here. Just that you're working for him. A complete stranger from outside the country coming to work for Fuji? Yeah right…"

"He's teaching me witchcraft," Ryouma interrupted, grumpy that Fuji hadn't informed Momoshiro. Technically HE could have, but...that would require having a conversation with Momoshiro past a gruff "hey" or "we need toilet paper". He lifted his head slightly and could see Momoshiro's face, agape in shock. "What?"

"You're one of them too, huh," Momoshiro muttered, turning away after stammering for a few moments. "Magic and stuff. I don't get it. You don't need it. I don't and I'm fine."

"Maybe I'll learn a 'clean up the house' spell for us," Ryouma said tersely. "Or maybe a 'find Momoshiro his shirt faster' potion."

"Ha ha," Momoshiro deadpanned. Then, a small flicker of a smile warmed up his face, and he launched forward, grabbing Ryouma and giving him an affectionate - Ryouma supposed you could call it that - knuckle sandwich to the head. Ryouma yelled out a protest, waking Karupin up from the disruption, and shoved Momoshiro off to the best of his ability, which wasn't far. Momoshiro hovered above him, a playful smile on his face. "You know, you can be funny sometimes, brat?"

"Huh," Ryouma sputtered, rolling away from him. "Don't you have to go to work?"

"Oh shit!" Momoshiro was off of him as soon as he was on him, finally snatching his work shirt from a pile and bustling out of the bedroom. Whatever he had been cooking smelt slightly burnt. Ryouma laid there until the front door slammed shut behind Momoshiro, and he seriously considered whether or not a "clean apartment" spell was possible. He'd have to ask Fuji.

Ryouma walked into Fuji's photography studio one morning to find that Fuji had guests. Fuji, in the three weeks that Ryouma had been there, working for him daily, had never had someone physically in his shop with them. A couple of customers dropping off their film, maybe, but never someone who had settled in with a cup of tea at his counter. Much less without Fuji there.

The man turned at the sound of the door opening, and he smiled at Ryouma. The biggest, goofiest smile Ryouma could have imagined. "Hello," Ryouma said cautiously, shutting the door behind him, the small bells on the corner tinkling softly.

"Are you the apprentice?" The man asked. He had a friendly face beyond his large, goofy grin that Ryouma found incredibly welcoming. He nodded shortly, and the man beamed at him. "That's great! Fujiko's been looking forward to the day he'd-"

"Looking forward to what?" Fuji's voice rang out as he came down the steps at the back of the store that led up to his upstairs apartment. He was carrying a platter of cheese and crackers - so sophisticated. Ryouma felt like maybe he had intruded on something out of his league.

The man pouted at Fuji as Fuji set the platter down on the counter between their teacups. "I was just telling the kid how excited you were to finally have an apprentice!"

"Hm," was all Fuji said. Very confidence inducing. Fuji perched on his stool and gestured towards the man. "Ryouma, this is Kawamura Takeshi. An old friend. He brings me groceries. A real stand up citizen."

"Aw, shucks," Kawamura said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Are you a witch too?" Ryouma asked. He didn't really have time for this - he had deliveries to make.

Kawamura laughed heartily, waving his hand and shaking his head. "Oh, no, no. Fujiko tried teaching me before, but I just couldn't control it!"

"He nearly caused my entire shop to explode," Fuji affirmed.

"Have you learned any cool spells yet, Ryouma?" Kawamura asked, looking excitedly at him.

Ryouma narrowed his eyes, sending a glare to Fuji. "No, not yet."

"Ah, well, patience is a virtue," Kawamura said sagely. It was good advice, if learning witchcraft hadn't been the sole reason Ryouma had come to Japan in the first place. Kawamura nodded to himself, continuing: "Fujiko's magic is very intimidating to get used to. He's very good at it."

"Oh, stop," Fuji sighed, but he smiled at Kawamura anyway.

"It's true! You do all the...the blood things!" Kawamura exclaimed. Ryouma darted a look over at Fuji, who didn't meet his gaze. _Blood things?_ Ryouma still was very much a newbie when it came to witchcraft, but he knew what blood magic was. He also knew it was extremely dangerous. Fuji didn't seem like the type, but Fuji wasn't denying Kawamura's claims.

Ryouma picked up his package deliveries for the day and stuck them into his bag. "Nice to meet you," he muttered at Kawamura, nodding slightly in goodbye. Kawamura smiled back, completely open and genuine, and Ryouma hurried out of there.

"He seems like a good kid," he heard Kawamura say before he shut the door behind him.


	4. Chapter 3

n the opposite side of town, there stood a small, quaint nursery. It was nothing particularly special, but something about it lured people in daily to see and buy all the delicately organized and tended flowers that were on display.

It also likely helped that the owner was a bishounen.

Kirihara Akaya gazed at him from where he was seated, his legs spread out on the floor and his back pressed up against the brick wall. The interior walls of the shop were painted white bricks, and the floor was a light wood. It felt very airy, and the opened windows let in a nice summery breeze that rustled all the plants' leaves. A radio played quietly by the register, the orchestral music barely audible above the clipping of scissors as the owner pruned some type of flower Kirihara had never seen before.

"What's that one?" He asked sleepily, finding himself more tired than he had thought he was. He yawned, and the owner turned towards him from where he was working. Yukimura Seiichi was really a beautiful man, with soft features and long, dark hair that he kept pulled back in a small ponytail. He reminded Kirihara of a mother, somehow - with the way Yukimura would gently smile at him when he did well at something or the way the corners of his lips would turn downwards sternly when he messed up a delivery because he got distracted by someone walking a dog.

Now, Yukimura was giving him a gentle smile. Kirihara perked up considerably. Yukimura loved to discuss his plants, and Kirihara loved to hear about them, even if it was in one ear and out the other. "This is a delphinium flower, Akaya."

Kirihara crawled over to where Yukimura stood and rose to his knees, peering over the table at the flower Yukimura was working with. It was a plant of small, purple flowers coming from a central stem. "What's it called in normal person talk?" Kirihara asked.

"It's a larkspur," Yukimura said. Kirihara oohed and aahed. Yukimura was so smart.

"Is this one poisonous too?"

Yukimura chuckled. "I wouldn't eat it, if that's what you mean."

Kirihara laid his cheek down on the table, stare flickering between the flower and Yukimura as Yukimura resumed cutting the darker, dying flowers from the stem. Yukimura was very meticulous about every plant in the store - there wasn't a single one that wasn't given the utmost attention and care. With the grace and patience Yukimura had with every flower he tended, it was no surprise that so many people were drawn to his shop. Kirihara had downtime, working for Yukimura like this, but there was never longer than an hour where someone didn't come, at least to window shop. The wind chimes by the door jingled as another breeze passed through the doorway.

"Are you going to use this one in one of your spells?"

Yukimura's hands stilled for a moment before he continued using the small pair of scissors to cut at the flower petals. "I'm not sure yet."

"I think you should. The purple would look cool in a big magical _swoosh_." To explain, he waved his arms in a large circle above his head. Yukimura chuckled, reaching over to pat Kirihara on the head with his hand before going back to work. Kirihara settled back down, pleased.

Yukimura was also a witch. Kirihara had learned pretty quickly after getting employed that Yukimura didn't only take care of his plants for business purposes, but also for witchcraft. He was unlike all the other witches Kirihara had met, too. Yukimura's magic wasn't bad, or scary, like some peoples. Yukimura's magic was pretty, and gentle, just like Yukimura himself. Yukimura let him sit with him when he tended to his altar daily, and Kirihara always loved it. Even if he didn't really understand it - Yukimura had never offered to teach him, but he didn't mind - he found it endlessly interesting. Whenever Yukimura would grind one of his flowers with his pestle and mortar and a puff of smoke colored the same as the petals he sacrificed and he smiled, Kirihara could feel his heart beat excitedly. Yukimura really was the most elegant when he was doing his magic.

They sat together in a comfortable silence as Yukimura finished his task. He grabbed his phone and snapped a photo before going to put it back on the windowsill. Kirihara watched him as he rearranged the flower pots meticulously.

Yukimura turned back to him, giving him a sharp gaze that startled him. "You should get to work."

The sun was still high in the sky, and Kirihara had several deliveries to make, but he was enjoying sitting there in Yukimura's presence far too much to make an effort to get up. Kirihara whined like a little kid, pouting at his boss. "But Yukimura…"

"No buts," Yukimura said, a little playfully, walking over and bopping Kirihara on the head. "Otherwise I'll have to call Niou in to do some deliveries instead."

Kirihara made a "blegh" noise in reaction to the thought of Yukimura needing to call in that trickster to do his job for him. They only ever called Niou in for big deliveries that Kirihara couldn't do himself. He pushed himself up from the floor, nodding. "Got it, got it. I'll be back later."

"Thank you, Akaya." If there was one thing about Yukimura, it was how genuinely thankful he was for all the people who worked for him - it filled Kirihara with a warm feeling of being wanted, and as he gathered the boxes he was to deliver, he felt light on his feet in the glow of Yukimura's gratitude.


	5. Chapter 4

Ryouma met Fuji's cat four weeks in.

He had always wondered where it could have been - that maybe Fuji kept it upstairs in his home, where Ryouma had never been. But Ryouma had almost a sixth sense for felines - he just knew where they were. But Fuji's cat...it was like it didn't exist. After three weeks, Ryouma assumed Fuji had lied about having a cat as an excuse to get Ryouma not to stay with him.

But then he met him.

Ryouma had returned from delivering a day's worth of photograph packages to see a red headed man watering the flowers on the outside boxes of Fuji's store's windows. Like he had been with Kawamura, Ryouma was immediately suspicious - while Kawamura was rather plain looking, the redhead stood out as someone Ryouma would have remembered seeing around town. His hair curled outwards and he had large blue eyes. He didn't fit in with the neighborhood, and was downright eccentric. What's more, he seemed to be wearing Fuji's clothing, which hung slightly loose off of his shoulders as he bent down to water some poppies.

Thinking quickly, Ryouma hid around a corner, watching the man move. He had lithe movements and got distracted by a butterfly that floated by. He was honestly...cat like.

Ryouma gasped. What if the cat Fuji had mentioned...was a boyfriend?! And it had been a cover up? Ryouma thought he was pretty open minded about that kind of thing, so having the truth hidden from him felt like a kick to the side. Newly emboldened by his conclusion on the matter, Ryouma came out from around the corner and walked up to the man.

"Hey," he said when he came up behind him.

The man let out a shrill shriek, nearly dropping the watering can he held. He turned around, affronted, giving Ryouma a glare. "It's rude to scare people like that!"

"Who are you?" Ryouma asked, narrowing his eyes. "I've never seen you here before."

"I'm Eiji!" the man said cheerily. The way he spoke was slightly confusing to Ryouma, and it took him a moment to decipher it. "I live with Fuji. I usually stay upstairs, but today was so nice, and don't you just want to go outside when it's nice out~?" He stretched his arms upwards, letting out a happy little sigh in the process.

"Fuji never told me you were living here," Ryouma said. His theory was becoming more and more realistic - Fuji had a secret boyfriend he had...locked in his apartment? Maybe blood magic wasn't so out of character.

Eiji pouted, looking upset by the news. "Really? But… I'm really important to him!"

Ryouma almost felt a little bad. He reached out and pat Eiji on the shoulder. Eiji immediately leaned into it, a pleased expression on his face. Ryouma pulled back his hand quickly, not expecting such an affectionate response from someone he just met. Eiji's face fell again when Ryouma's hand left his shoulder.

"Eiji!" Fuji's voice came from an opened upstairs window. Ryouma and Eiji both looked up to see Fuji leaning halfway out of the window, glaring down at the other man. "I told you not to go outside!"

"But it's so sunny out~," Eiji whined, wiggling like a little kid. Ryouma wasn't sure how to deal with this situation. "And I got to meet your apprentice! He's so cute. I want to play with him!"

Now Ryouma REALLY didn't know what to do with this situation. Eiji grasped Ryouma's arm and playfully pulled on it. "Then play inside!" Fuji sighed, pinching at the bridge of his nose. "Just come back upstairs before someone sees you that isn't Ryouma!"

Eiji puffed out his cheeks before rolling his eyes, giving in. "Fineeee~," he sighed. Right before Ryouma's eyes, he leapt up onto the overhanging roof from the ground. An 8 foot jump. And slipped through the open window Fuji had just been talking to them out of. Ryouma rubbed at his eyes. An eight foot jump?!

He rushed inside and towards the stairs up to Fuji's apartment. It felt kind of invasive - he still hadn't gone up at all. He ascended the stairs and burst into Fuji's apartment. Fuji was sat at the coffee table in front of his television, watching a daytime talk show on low volume as he pruned a cactus. (thats a thing right). On the other side of the table was Eiji, fingers gripping on the edge as he peeked over it at Fuji's hands. He reached out and swatted at Fuji's hand when it got too close, and Fuji sighed, turning to Ryouma.

"Can you play with him?"

"Who IS he?!" Ryouma exclaimed as Eiji bound over to him, cheerfully latching onto his arm again. He was much too close, his excited eyes boring into the side of his face.

Fuji looked over at them calmly, his lips flattened. "My cat."

"What?!" Ryouma couldn't believe what lies Fuji was telling him. "This is no cat!"

"Eiji's a cat, nya~" Eiji provided helpfully.

Fuji picked up a cat toy, a little rubber ball with a bell inside, from the floor and tossed it to the other side of the room. Eiji bounded after it, caught it on the first bounce and tumbled over in a roll that was almost acrobatic. His flexibility was scary. Ryouma looked from Eiji to Fuji and thought, okay, maybe either Eiji was a cat, or Fuji was harbouring an extremely damaged young man.

The ball skittered out of Eiji's grasp and Ryouma caught it under his foot. When Eiji looked up at him, expectantly, he ducked to pick it up. Still feeling incredibly weird about the whole thing, he threw it, the bell tinkling as it rolled across the floor.

Eiji went after it again. This time, he _changed_ mid-pounce, his body moulding itself into another, significantly smaller form. The transformation was too fast for Ryouma to really see, and even if it hadn't been, he wasn't sure he could really comprehend it. In Eiji's place was a small, fluffy cat, rolling back and forward on it's back with the ball clutched to its chest.

"Why is he pink?" Ryouma asked, which felt like a stupid question, considering what he'd just witnessed, but it was the first thing that came to mind. The cat's hair was a pale salmon colour. Almost… fleshy. Gross.

"Magic is… unpredictable," Fuji said, moving to kneel down where Eiji rolled, rubbing his tummy affectionately. "An experiment gone wrong."

The cat lover in Ryouma felt a little revolted at the idea of using a cat for experiments, but the side of him that was incredibly curious about magic wouldn't let him leave. He moved over to sit on the floor next to Fuji, legs crossed, watching his mentor play with the cat. Finally, a little shyly, Ryoma picked up another toy that lay nearby - a rod with a bell and bunch of feathers on the end - and swished it around. Eiji pounced after it.

"Is he still," Ryouma paused, "Uh… sentient?"

"I'm not sure," Fuji said, shrugging. "He can't talk in this form, but he seems to know what's going on. But then, familiars are always more intelligent than your average animal. I'm sure your cat is, as well?"

Ryouma thought about it. Karupin didn't do much other than eat, and sleep, and occasionally make an escape attempt. He'd been an outdoor cat before Ryouma had came to Japan, and he was still adjusting to apartment life.

"I'm not really a witch, yet," Ryouma muttered, finally. "Karupin's not my familiar."

"Everyone has the potential in them for magic," Fuji said, "Not everyone wants to pursue it, though. You do. That makes you a witch already."

Ryouma frowned. That was the most encouraging thing Fuji had said to him already, but it felt hollow, and Ryouma didn't believe it. How could he call himself a witch when he hadn't even learnt how to do a single spell, or brew a simple potion?

"How did you do it?" He asked, finally, and when Fuji raised an eyebrow, he said, "Eiji. How did you make it so he could… change?"

Ryouma had heard of transfiguration before, but never like this. He'd heard of it in very limited capacities - like changing one inanimate object into another, or altering your appearance a little. He'd never imagined that you could change a cat into a human. That would take some powerful magic. Not something just anybody would attempt.

"Was it blood magic?" He asked.

Fuji was good at hiding his expressions, but after a little more than a month with them, Ryouma was getting good at reading him. So when his lips turned downwards a little, the ghost of a frown, Ryouma said, "It was."

He tried to remember everything he knew about blood magic. It had been banned over a hundred years ago, because it was dangerous. It offered magic users an incredible amount of power, providing they were willing to give a little self sacrifice. He'd read all sorts of horror stories about it - that it could be used to control people's minds, or call upon deadly demons, or raise the dead. He wasn't sure half of them were true, but still. It wasn't the sort of thing you messed with.

"Don't tell anyone," Fuji said. He didn't sound like he was asking. It was a command, rather than a request.

"I could," Ryouma said, "I have connections with witch hunters. I could tell them."

"You could," Fuji said, lazily. Eiji had tired himself out with the toy Ryouma had been waving for him and come to curl in Fuji's lap, and Fuji was stroking him absentmindedly as he said, "And I could use my magic to tear you apart from the inside out. There's lots of things we _could_ do."

It was definitely a threat, but Ryouma wasn't phased.

"You wouldn't hurt me," he said, leaning back, "Tezuka wouldn't have recommended you to me if he thought you were dangerous."

Fuji smiled - a genuine smile, not the one he usually wore - and Ryouma knew he'd called his bluff. A good thing, too, because he didn't want to find out what Fuji was capable of first hand.

"What do you want, Echizen?" Fuji said.

"I want you to start taking me seriously," Ryouma answered. "I want you to actually _teach_ me something, instead of sending me on errands all the time. I want to learn."

Fuji was quiet for a while, considering what he'd asked, then he finally said, "Okay." He scooped a snoring Eiji out of his lap and placed him on the floor, brushing his pants down as he stood up. "I have a meeting every week with some witches and warlocks from the area. We discuss magic. You can come to that."

Ryouma smiled. It wasn't much (not what he'd wanted, really, which was a hands on experience with magic, getting to do it for himself), but it was something, and he was looking forward to it.


	6. Chapter 5

"What's the difference between a witch and a warlock?" Ryouma asked. The day of the meeting had arrived, and Ryouma had stayed after work, invited upstairs by Fuji.

"Not a lot," Fuji said. "Some people prefer one over the other. You're from America - witch is more of a feminine word there, right?" Ryouma nodded. "It's not really like that here. Most people just go by what they prefer. I like witch. It's less of a mouthful than…"

Ryouma barely recognized the word warlock, mangled by Fuji's pronunciation. Feeling a little smug, Ryouma said, "Less of a mouthful than _what_?" Then, smoothly, fluently, "Warlock?"

Fuji raised a hand to flick him on the side of his temple with his fingers.

He'd tidied up his apartment, making the small loft space look charming and presentable, and less like the messy home of a disorganized single male. Eiji was nowhere to be seen. When Ryouma asked after him, Fuji said, "He's with my sister. He gets too excited when there's lots of people around."

"Would they know you changed him with blood magic?" Ryouma asked. Fuji didn't answer, so he asked more questions, not taking the hint. "Kawamura knew you did it, and he's not even a witch. Does Tezuka know you do it? Aren't you supposed to keep that kind of thing a secret?"

"Tezuka… knows I can use blood magic," Fuji said, throwing a table cloth over his table and smoothing it out.

"Isn't it his job to make sure you _don't_?"

"Maybe," Fuji replied. "Kawamura doesn't realize it's taboo. Tezuka knows I wouldn't use it for anything… sinister. And some other people know, too, but they're not going to do anything about it." He smiled, a little dangerously. "We're a small community, and we all have our secrets. People know that if they were to tell the witch hunters about me, I could probably ruin _their_ lives just as bad."

Ryouma looked at him, trying to keep his expression blank. Witchcraft was… dangerous.

"Still want to be a witch?" Fuji teased.

They were expecting a handful of guests for their meeting. Fuji kept calling it that, like it was really important, but honestly, it was reminding Ryouma more and more of when he'd been young and his parents had had friends over. He'd set up little bowls of snacks and had put a bottle of wine in the centre of the table. Ryouma was busy washing wine glasses, which seemed dusty from disuse.

"Not the kind to have company often?" He asked, a little snidely.

Fuji didn't look to him from across the room. Just continued fluffing cushions and tossing them back on his couch.

"We usually host it somewhere else."

"Sure," Ryouma said. He dried off the glasses, set them on the table. Six of them. The guests they were laid out for arrived shortly.

The first two were for him and Fuji, obviously, but he didn't like to drink. Wasn't old enough to, but that wasn't the reason. Alcohol just tasted… gross. He'd rather have a cool, refreshing Ponta ™.

The first guest to arrive was an overeager looking man, about Fuji's age, dressed in a shirt and dress pants, a blazer slung over his shoulder. Awkward, because Ryouma and Fuji were in the casual clothes they worked in. His entrance was made even more awkward when Fuji completely blanked on his name, leading him to let out an exasperated, "It's Mizuki! Mizuki Hajime! We've known each other for eight years!"

As he stalked away to take his seat, Ryouma said, voice low, "You didn't really forget his name, did you?" and Fuji replied, sounding genuinely curious, "Whose?"

Atobe Keigo was the next to arrive. Ryouma didn't know who he was at first, but he definitely recognized the name. The Atobes were one of the most powerful magical families in Japan, as well as the most fabulously wealthy. It was absurd how rich they were. They had far too many dollars.

He took his seat, primly, at the head of the table, and Fuji gave him a smile that would probably make a lesser man faint. Atobe asked where Tezuka was. Fuji replied that he wouldn't be coming, and Atobe stopped preening himself quite as much, suddenly disinterested.

They sat around the table and made awkward small talk as they waited for the other guests to arrive. Fuji seemed to like messing with both Atobe and Mizuki, but he was especially good at baiting the latter. Ryouma guessed that after eight years, he'd had some practice.

He found out that Atobe was an elemental warlock, but despite the fact that he had the ability to control every element, he worked with water and ice exclusively.

"Which really makes you about a third as useful as you could be," Fuji said. Atobe gave him a cool stare and poured another glass of wine. He had drank about half the bottle by himself at this point.

" _I'm_ a potions master," Mizuki cut in, clearly wanting to talk about himself. "My specialty is love potions. You can try one out sometime, if you-"

There was another knock on the door, and the final guest answered without waiting on Fuji to answer it. Mizuki seemed annoyed about being cut off mid-sentence, but Ryouma wasn't paying much attention to him now. His eyes were on the two men who joined them. The one who came in first was beautiful. Ryouma hadn't thought a dude could be that pretty, but apparently they could be, and here was living proof. The kid who followed him - probably closer to his age than Fuji's - looked pretty lost.

"Fuji," he said with a smile, sitting down. "Thank you for hosting this month. It's so nice of you, while our store is getting renovated."

He spoke like Fuji, Ryouma thought. He sounded kind but there was something _fake_ about him, how he carried himself, the way he spoke.

"Yukimura," Fuji said, mirroring his tone. "It's my pleasure. I would have hated to go a month without this - you know how much I love your book club."

" _Book club_ ," Ryouma repeated, dully, his eyes narrowing. Yukimura turned to look at him for the first time, and he met his gaze, stubbornly. Yukimura seemed surprised - apparently, he wasn't used to people acting this way around him.

"Yes," he said, "We've been running it for a few years now. I didn't know you'd be joining us." He looked to Fuji. "Who is this? Your new boyfriend?"

Gross! The kid that had come with Yukimura peered over his shoulder, giving Ryouma a devilish smile.

Fuji's smile didn't waver, but Ryouma knew better than to assume Fuji appreciated the jab. "Let's not get hasty, Yukimura. He's my new apprentice. His name is Ryouma."

All the men in the room reeled at the news. Atobe and Mizuki hadn't even bothered to ask, making their own presumptions, but they clearly hadn't expected the bombshell of an _apprentice_ to be dropped.

Atobe, in particular, looked distraught by the news. He looked at Ryouma finally, his eyes judgemental and harsh as he sized him up. "This brat?" He said, obviously shocked. "Really?"

"I thought you were convincing that Momo kid to be your apprentice?" Mizuki sounded just as surprised. Ryouma snorted at the mention of Momoshiro becoming a witch - maybe when hell froze over.

Fuji's smile was definitely fake now. Ryouma wondered why he invited these hooligans to this club or whatever if they were just going to passively aggressively smile at each other. "No. I had no plans to invite Momo to be my apprentice."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Ryouma." Yukimura finally said. He reached outwards to give Ryouma a handshake, and Ryouma took it tentatively. The man's fingers were long and thin, but his hold on Ryouma's was powerful and confident. Ryouma was kind of dazzled by him. Yukimura turned to the side slightly, wrapping a gentle arm around the boy he himself had brought with him. "Introduce yourself too, Akaya."

"Hey," Kirihara said casually. "I'm Kirihara."

"Ugh," Atobe muttered from across the room. Mizuki hummed in quiet agreement. It seemed the other members already knew Kirihara from other times before, and weren't particularly fond of him.

Fuji clapped his hands together excitedly.

"Well, I think we're about ready to begin," he said, before looking from the bottle of wine to Ryouma, and then to Kirihara. They'd drank a decent amount of the bottle just waiting for Yukimura and Kirihara to show up, thought it had mostly been between Atobe and Mizuki. Atobe seemed unaffected. Mizuki was looking a little tipsy, his cheeks starting to flush.

"Why don't you two go and get us some more wine?" Fuji said, pulling some money out of his pocket and pushing it across the table to Ryouma.

Ryouma considered protesting - he didn't want to miss anything, and he considered saying that he wasn't even _old_ enough to buy alcohol, but he knew Fuji wouldn't accept either of those excuses. Besides, he hardly ever got IDed in stores (he was always grateful that he'd finally had a growth spurt and then _kept_ growing when he'd hit seventeen, and people had stopped assuming he was in middle school).

Yukimura paused, and Ryouma thought for a moment he was going to say Kirihara couldn't go, which was _fine_ with him, but then he touched Kirihara's shoulder and said, "I think that's a good idea."

So he got up from the table, and Kirihara followed behind him, looking even sulkier than Ryouma felt about having to go run an errand.

They walked in silence to the convenience store a block or two away from Fuji's store, one of the few in the neighbourhood that would be open this late in the evening. Ryouma didn't really feel like making conversation, but curiosity got the better of him, and he finally asked, "Do you do magic?"

"No," Kirihara muttered, "I just came with Yukimura."

Ryouma thought about how Yukimura had called Kirihara Akaya, and the small touches he'd given him.

"Are you dating him?" He asked.

Kirihara stopped suddenly. It was a little dark, but under the streetlight Ryouma could make out a blush colouring his cheeks.

"N-no!" He stammered, his embarrassment quickly concealed by a scowl. "Why would you even ask that? That's stupid! I don't- I just _work_ for him!"

Ryouma moved to tug his cap down to cover the glint of a smirk in his eyes, then remembered Fuji had banned him from wearing his hat at work, and ran a hand through his hair instead. Kirihara still seemed flustered.

"I was just asking," he said, innocently. "What does Yukimura do, anyway?"

"What does he _do_?" Kirihara said, incredulously. They were walking again, at least, but Ryouma's ignorance seemed to have taken him aback. Ryouma hoped he wouldn't stop again. "You really are a foreigner, aren't you?" The disdain in his voice was clear. "Listen up: Yukimura's only the greatest nature witch in this country. He won a prize last year for like, innovation in magic."

He sounded ridiculously proud, like he'd won it himself or something. Ryouma was actually listening, now, and he was more interested in Yukimura's magic than the man himself.

"What was it for?" Ryouma asked, curiosity piqued.

"I just said. Innovation in mag-"

"I mean, was it a spell?" Ryouma said, slightly annoyed. "A potion? What?"

Kirihara went quiet. Finally he just said, "Does it matter? He _won_. That's why Yukimura's the best witch that's active right now. Better than your mentor any day of the week."

Ryouma raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything else. Kirihara continued to ramble until they reached the store, apparently desperate to defend Yukimura's honour even though Ryouma had let the subject go already.

"Yukimura's magic is so… _pure_ ," he said, eyes glimmering. "And beautiful, too. That's why everyone likes him and his shop." His nose wrinkled as he said, vindictively, "Nobody comes to Fuji's store because everyone knows what he _is_ , you know. Yukimura told me. He's a blood witch, and he's not even that good at it. That's disgusting."

"Uh," Ryouma said, "Okay." He was glad that they'd reached the convenience store. "You wait outside."

Ryouma didn't need Kirihara causing a scene in the store because he'd accidentally breathed wrong and insulted Yukimura again. He bought the wine, spent the change on Ponta for himself, and headed back out the shop. Kirihara seemed to have cooled down, and they headed back to Fuji's shop without another one-sided argument.

When they got back into the apartment, Mizuki was in the middle of a heated debate with Yukimura about the morality of love potions, though Mizuki was the only one who really seemed worked up. Mizuki was insisting that there was nothing wrong with them, and Yukimura was cutting in occasionally with comments that seemed like they were made just to rile Mizuki up. Ryouma wondered if they only invited him because he was fun to torment. Yukimura was a sadist, just like Fuji.

"It doesn't _matter_ what you think of my work," Mizuki finally snapped. "I'm just asking if you can grow some jasmine for me!"

Yukimura allowed Fuji to pour him another glass of wine, then said, "Maybe."

"Let's just talk about the book, already," Atobe drawled, sounding bored.

Their meeting, Ryouma discovered, was an overglorified book club. They were talking about a spellbook, sure, but mostly all they did was gossip, and there was hardly any discussion of magic. Atobe kept trying to suggest what their next book should be, which seemed to be a novel about a torrid affair between warlock and witch hunter, and Fuji kept shooting him down.

Ryouma slumped down in his chair, wishing they'd talk about something _interesting_. By the time the meeting was over, he was almost falling asleep, and only the scrape of chairs away from the table woke him from his daydream. Yukimura was giving him a cool smile.

"It was nice meeting you, Ryouma," he said. Ryouma didn't like how he called him by his first name, because he wasn't sure if it was an attempt at friendliness or if Yukimura was just cocky enough to not care about normal social boundaries. Probably the second one. "I'm sure you'll learn a lot from Fuji. You must be very excited."

Ryouma snorted, and Fuji glared at him as Yukimura laughed. Fuji and Yukimura exchanged overly polite goodbyes, and then Fuji shut the door as the last of their guests left. Ryouma didn't bother thinking about how most of them could probably hear him through the wall as he said, "Well, that was a huge waste of time."

"I introduced you to two of the most powerful magic users in our part of Japan tonight," Fuji said. "And Mizuki."

Ryouma wasn't impressed. He muttered something about how he hadn't _learned_ anything, and Fuji sighed, sitting down.

"I don't know what you expect from me," he said, looking to Ryouma. Maybe it was because he'd been drinking, but his face didn't seem nearly as composed as it usually was. He looked obviously annoyed as he looked at his apprentice. "I've never _done_ this before. I don't know how to start. I've never taught anyone before."

"It can't be that hard," Ryouma snapped. "How were you taught?"

Fuji gave a slight shrug, face blank. He poured the dregs of the wine from the bottle into his glass.

"Nobody really taught me," he said, and Ryouma thought he must be bluffing. He'd never heard of a witch who hadn't had an apprenticeship. Magic wasn't something you just _knew_. Fuji was good - Tezuka wouldn't have recommended him to him if he wasn't - but he couldn't be that good.

"Don't answer me if you don't want to," Ryouma said, "Just don't try to bullshit me."

Fuji didn't speak, so Ryouma supposed he really didn't want to answer him.

"Why isn't your father teaching you?"

Fuji caught him off guard with the question. It was the first time Fuji had really asked him about his dad, which was surprising, because Nanjiroh Echizen was a pretty big deal. Or had been, once - now he just lazed around all day, running a temple in their back yard… which was stupid, because nobody in America needed one, especially not in the rich little suburb his parents had settled down in. Ryouma thought Nanjiroh just did it as an excuse to not get a job, and his mom was successful enough to support his lazy NEET of a father, so he supposed it worked out okay for both of them.

"He tried to," Ryouma answered, deciding to be honest. "When I was a kid. He wanted to train me to be the best warlock in America. Or he said that, but he never took it seriously, so eventually I just quit and stopped asking for lessons."

"How sad," Fuji said. It sounded a little patronizing, but Ryouma was too tired to fight. It had gotten pretty late, and he'd been in since early in the morning. He was sleepy. Fuji seemed to notice, too. "It's late. You can stay over. Take the couch."

Ryouma might have argued, but he was tired, and home was a train ride away. So he curled up on Fuji's couch, letting himself fall asleep as Fuji cleared the table.


End file.
